How's about we discuss how we see gaming in the future, personally I think the PC era will return because as a gamer I see myself being driven away by Console manufacturers because they're after a more casual audience, how many hardcore games have MS got for the 360? 2. Although that isn't the case for Sony but some of their brands may die out from brand exhaustion. What do you think?
Lets discuss the future
(20 posts)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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Hopefully Gemini Rue will be huge and Adventure Games will make a triumphant return.
Posted 2 years ago # -
The future of video games is going to be less about the hardware they are on and more about the way they are delivered/played.
Some sort of online streaming game service is going to be the future. The same service will run on a laptop, full blown gaming PC rig, a living room console, maybe even on the TV (wireless controlers) itself.
The reasons are many. Developing costs. Split user base. Second hand game sales. And so on.
Right now the big hardware guys are the one controling things and calling the shots. They are pushing DLC down our throats(because they make money on each download). I believe that the current model of biz is driving costs up, and driving many out of the industry. I think there is a breaking point. And I think that some people will be(and already are) looking for something that works better.
When I can log into Steam from a PC, PS4, Steam based MicroConsole, or even like I said the TV itself ... then we will have come to a point where it is all about the games and not the damn mega billion dollar monster pimping out consoles.
In short the answer to the future of video games, I believe to be Cloud gaming services. Every game, small monthly sub fees, online/matching making, friends lists, profile, all the fixings.
Believe.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I share your sentiment about PC gaming completely ThePlat, but there's no way PC gaming is going to return to anywhere near where it was in the 90's.
The simple reason being hardware. When it takes in excess of 1000 dollars every 3-5 years just to be able to realize the new games coming out, people simply aren't going to bother.
Unless the PC adopts a style like the consoles where all the hardware is cheap and bundled, it's going to stay right where it is.
More than 60% of gamers today are still running dualcores or worse, if Steam's hardware survey is to be believed. That's a lot of shitty PC experiences.
http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
I don't distinguish between "hardcore games" and "games". That sounds like a desperate attempt to stand out based on the games you play to me, but I think the progression is going to continue, and I think games are gonna keep being fairly simplistic as a whole, due to the console factor.
Posted 2 years ago # -
The future is here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVcG8bJBkKkPosted 2 years ago # -
Geki: That was brilliant.
In my honest opinion O.G., I think we're already at the point where the power of the hardware has become largely redundant. The capabilities of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 means that there really is no rush to build a bigger, faster console. What we have already does the job just fine.
Fanboys may bitch about the technical limitations / advantages of the PS3 and 360, but the reality is that most people don't give a time.
Cloud gaming is interesting, but I don't think it's going to take over. Things like lag, heavy data streaming, etc, means that it will never reach the same level of control fidelity as playing the game right there on your machine has, and I think most gamers will be aware of that.
Could you imagine trying to play some of the more precise and strategic games on these services? It would become like handing a chess board to a monkey.
Digital media is going to continue to be relevant, possibly more so, especially on the PC. It's also possibly, depending on how the next generation of consoles are designed, that digital downloads will basically become a standard option. I can't imagine why it wouldn't.
3D gaming may or may not have become standard. This will depend entirely on the uptake of 3D televisions.
Motion control will come as standard on home consoles. Unless Nintendo decides to reinvent the wheel for the quadrillionth time, in which case Sony and Microsoft will just rip off whatever idea they come up with again.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Michael is spot on.
Also, I think handheld gaming is gonna become a monster. I don't think it's going to stop expanding. If nothing else then for the sheer volume it can generate in terms of games and ideas, at very low cost. Any student halfway through his programming education can create an amazing Unity game in his spare time - I even know people teaching themselves.
Posted 2 years ago # -
@ DSB very true!
Also, I agree with OG, your point O'Connor about lag and such will be mute eventually. There is demand for higher broadband speeds, and its going up. I think streamed TV and movies will push the minimum speed up, and get the service providers to pull their fingers out and upgrade to something other than copper wire. With that, games will follow, and then who gives a shit about what your box under the telly can do? *this* cable is hooked up to a server with abazillion processors, and all my games are under one log in.
Only time will tell i suppose!
Posted 2 years ago # -
@ There is always going to be some form of lag in the transmission of date across thousands of miles. Always. That is a hurdle that is completely impossible to escape.
It's small, but considering the speed at which the human brain can think, anyone with a high degree of skill will always be aware of the difference no matter how minuscule.
We are *nowhere* near having *reliable* broadband in every home, never mind broad band that is almost lag free. This is why cloud gaming will never become the norm. It's a pipe-dream.
I think there will always be a box, with predefined part. I think there are *some* aspects of cloud gaming that may become prevalent, that much I can agree with you on. Data being stored on outside servers, certain processes being managed externally and being sent to your machine, but I strongly believe that it will always come down to a machine and a piece of media to store it on. That's one constant that will never change.
Why? Because people want to own their own stuff.
If consoles become boxes that do almost everything online, wouldn't that essentially make them PCs? That's practically all PCs are nowadays. Even Google knows this.
Agreed on the handheld point. Hilariously, we in the west are only just now catching up to a craze that has been prevalent in Japan for the past half a decade. I have an Android phone, and it's the most astounding piece of technology I've seen in years. Just think of what these babies will be capable of in another five years!
Posted 2 years ago # -
You're right and you aren't Michael.
There's no doubt that the internet is still suffering from childhood illnesses, but I think a lot of those "obstacles" are mostly temporary. There's so much that's still horribly inefficient, as you say, but it's worth taking note of the fact that we have solutions for pretty much everything holding us back. Whether that's replacing gold and copper with synthetic diamond superconductors, or even working to invent a better material than that.
It's ridiculous how antiquated the current generation of the internet really is, compared to the technologies we have now. Think of the ammount of wannabe billionaire Nobel-laureates, who are right now trying their hardest to discover the next new revolution in internet technology. It's gonna come sooner or later, the internet is going to go next-gen.
One of the biggest epiphanys I've had in online gaming for a long time is actually the MW2 matchmaker. I'm no networking wiz, but as I understand it, it only works by the good graces of our individual broadband, and in my case, that's meant very very little lag. It's pretty damn rare. Of course you can always point to the fact that the software was far from flawless, but it was still way beyond mere proof of concept.
Today I can't look at a server browser without sneering. Why do I have to put up with that shit?
Of course creating technology is one thing. Bringing it to people is the real hurdle, and the internet is fairly humongous and complex. Still, we're on the verge of having 50 megabit broadband at close to the same prices as our current 10 megabit connections here in Denmark, due to a new optical grid. Shit is moving fast. I can still remember the sound of a 56k, and the amazement at how fast IDSN was.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Posted 2 years ago #
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i hope cloud gaming will fail hard, but i doubt it will be the case.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I'm still waiting for Bandersnatch...
Posted 2 years ago # -
Lol O'Connor, I can actually do that noise as an impression haha.
Yer, hand helds are going to go mental at some point. They are huge over in the East for a reason right? I dunno when tho, I don't think the 3DS will be the turning point on it's own, prehaps a combination of that and the PSP2 will start the craze?
I accept there will always be lag, there has to be for any of this shit to work right? Prehaps it will be a combo like you say, with some sort of a box doing some processing, but I seriously think it will all be a massive distributed architecture and people just won't need nowt but a wireless controller and a subscription!
I'm not saying I'd like that btw, I like owning my own stuff, I just think that is where we are heading.
Posted 2 years ago # -
@Robo_1 nice reference, don't stop believing brother :)
Posted 2 years ago # -
Just a couple of things.
I already Netflix. I stream movies and TV shows in my home on three sets at the same time. And not a hic-up.
I also already use a Cloud gaming service. I use Onlive. It does have a few hic-ups during prime time usage hours. But it runs smooth enough.
I think that when talking about the Future of Video Games we can't limit ourself to just the tech level of technology we already hve today. Broadband is going to grow in leaps and bounds. There will be people that will try and monitize each gig, but they will fail. And even remote places or places with lower end broadband right now, will gain more bandwidth. It will happen.
Remember when Bill gates claimed that no PC would need more then 512K?
Remember when Sony said you couldn't deliver broadband online gaming because not enough people have access?
Things change. They grow and expand.
I really don't see 3D taking off. I see it being a fad, that at most gives you the option. I don't see it being the norm. It is possible, that someday way down the road they can perfect it. But I have my doubts. You will have a hard time marketing something that makes a certin section of the population sick to play. And glasses won't carry the tech. Glasses free 3D is coming, so maybe. But I think 3D will be like Bluray, some will swear by it, but most will say it is no big deal and it will be very slow to carve out a spot for itself in the marketplace. And all too soon will likly be replaced or passed over.
Hardware has a glass celing. Two reasons. TVs can only display so much. And your eyes can only see so much. I think that hardware still has a fair amount of room to grow. But I don't think the future of games is going to hinge on hardware alone. I think it comes down to the way the games are delivered.
The movies I am watching are still basicly the same as they have always been. But now I can select a movie, click a button, and I am watching it, in HD, in seconds, for one VERY low monthly fee. I can pick from a near endless amount of movies, more then I could possibly watch and the list grows all of the time. That is Netflix. The samething will happen to games, and I think it is less then ten years away.
I don't see handhelds taking over. Esp here in the west. In JP(and some select other, highly dense and populated areas), Handheld gaming replaces the social gaming aspects of say XBLIVE. In JP their internet is extremly limited. I think that will continue to change over time. But upto this point it was far more feesible to own a GameBoy or PSP and link your games together with others in small groups. Where as you and I use PSN, Steam, XBL, they use the local cafe' and a wirelessly conected handheld.
I don't see that taking off here. There is no need for it.
In the west handhelds will continue to be what they have always been. Systems for your kids. And a very small niche for so called "core" gamers. Some people idolize JP. They see their Handheld fetish, and their eyes become glazed over. Fact is it isn't going to work over here. We aren't somehow behind JP. We aren't going to catch up to them in regaurds to handhelds. PSP2 or 3DS are not going ot set the gaming world on fire over here. Our mass marketed pentitration Handhelds are going to be in large Cell Phones, iPods, and misc PDAs. Its just different cultures.
The furure of JP gaming could very well include a handheld that access a remote network of games that can be downloaded(rented or bought). It could included an expanded model of what we see now in the handheld market. But I believe that fundimentaly, that will not work enmass in the west.
And I know that Micheal will disagree with me on handhelds. He is a huge PSP gamer. And I am sure that being this site as it is, a few other folks own and play on handhelds too. But look at the top 10 software lines ups. In JP handheld games rule the top ten. In the west, hardly ever does a handheld game break into the top ten.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Photo-realistic, full scale, VisionSurround™ 3D on a multi-directional, 10 speed treadmill.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Real-time ray tracing FTW
Posted 2 years ago # -
I gotta say I'm kinda chuckling at the guys talking about handheld as something that's "about to happen".
(Rough figures):
Wii - 71 million sold
360 - 41 million sold
PS3 - 38 million soldTotal - 150 million
DS - 125 million sold
PSP - 51 million sold
iPod Touch - 32 million sold
iPhone - Around 60 million sold
iPad - ???Total - 268 million
Those are only the best known brands of smartphones and handheld consoles. There might not be any certainty that an iPhone or an iPad is going to be used as a gaming platform, but I don't know a single person who wouldn't be able to play and enjoy things like Flight Control and Angry Birds. That's a massive ammount of hardware, in the hands of a quarter of a billion people.
A quarter of a billion!
Posted 2 years ago # -
DSB you over did it, again.
First thing you over looked at was the by region thing. Esp when it comes to handhelds. Its night and day. JP loves LOVES loves the handhelds.
The question being looked at was what was next. And I broke it down further by saying that here in the WEST Handhelds have not, aren't not, nor ever will have the same kind of impact that they have in JP.
Also because of the growing diveristy and seemingly un compatibility between east and west markets/(cultures?) any type of game number descusion should be broken down into regions. Is it fair to compare the xb360 to PSP sales when the PSP is out in three major markets, and the JP all but shun western games and western game systems?
Nope.
Because you would be proving your point based entirely on one regions lust for a handheld. What works in one region may not work in the other.
Secondly, as if further proof is needed, look at the SOFTWARE sales. In JP the top sellers are very often, even to the point of being dominated by, handheld games. Where as in the west, the top sellers are not.
At the crux of it, it does not boil down to a Handheld vs console scenerio. There is no need to validate your handheld enjoyment. Instead just a simple glimpse into what might come next. In the future. As that future relates to us, the western markets.
Heck the MegaDrive might go through a resurgence in Middle Africa for all we know. But that isn't the same type of thing.
The reason, I think, that some folks think Handhelds might be the next big thing in the west, is because at this point handhelds have not "arrived" in the west(when compared to the east). And to many people they still look at JP as being the trend setters when it comes to all things video games.
However to most people(in the west) the notion of playing on a small screen, alone, when you could be playing on your TV, online is crazy. And I don't envision people flocking to their local game stores to trade in xb360/Ps3 for PSP2 or 3ds.
In the west handhelds are mostly a kids on the go game system. Because all hell might break lose if they had to sit through a 10 min car ride to Grandmas without playing a game. You know, they might actualy talk or something.
I think it is simple. Very simple.
In NA, iPods, cell phones, and to an extent PDAs will be the on the go entertainment of choice for older teens and adults. Gameboys and PSPs are going to be a Kids market. Look at N.Gage, I don't think the older crowd want to have a game system aimed at them. I think the older folks are happy with the lite games that flood across the iSystems/phones. Honestly, did you leave the house to play games anyways?
This is just my two cents, but in no way shape or form do I think handhelds of any calibur will be a dominate force in the future of WESTERN gaming.
Even if they did build twin anolog sticks onto the PSP2!
Posted 2 years ago #
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